The Process
by mikotyzini
Summary: What happens when Harumin tries to help Yuzu with her secret crush? Can Mei finally admit her feelings? One story, three point of views.
1. Catalyst

**Hello all! The most recent chapter of Citrus inspired me to finish this story. I tried to write it in a different format. It's the same situation playing out, with each chapter from a different character's point of view. The chapters build upon each other, as well. The first chapter is Harumin. I hope that you enjoy! Please read and review.**

**Also, I don't own Citrus. **

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Yuzu let out a sigh as she opened her locker to deposit her books and grab her backpack in preparation to go home. Harumin raised her eyebrow at her best friend while leaning casually against the wall beside to her. The poor girl had been in horrible spirits the entire day; no doubt the result of another setback with her half-sister/"secret" crush.

_Seriously_, Harumin thought to herself, _the two of them really need to figure out their feelings already._ She was getting quite tired of seeing Yuzu so depressed. It really put a damper on Harumin's "live life to its fullest" mentality.

It certainly didn't help that that no good miscreant friend of Yuzu's, Matsuri, kept showing and creating more trouble for the poor girl.

"What's up, Yuzu?" she asked, hoping that maybe _this_ time, Yuzu would open up about what she was actually feeling. Harumin couldn't help her if she refused to speak to her about the subject at all. And it was getting quite frustrating to pretend that she didn't know what was bothering Yuzu. It was plain as day! Harumin could see by the way Yuzu's eyes followed Mei whenever the president was in the vicinity. The longing and desire were unmistakable.

"Oh…it's nothing really…" Yuzu replied solemnly as she pulled her arms through the straps on her backpack and carefully shut her locker door. "It's just been one of those days, you know?" She gave Harumin such an anti-Yuzu smile that Harumin couldn't help but frown in return.

"Yuzu…you know that you're my best friend, so that means I know when you're lying," Harumin said seriously. "So tell me what is actually bothering you, please." Harumin didn't like pleading, but she wanted her happy-go-lucky friend back, not this moping, sighing girl.

Yuzu looked down as she shuffled her feet, strands of blonde hair falling over into her face, before she quietly answered Harumin's question.

"Well…you see…there's someone that I like…a lot. But I just can't figure out how they really feel about me…"

The dejected look on Yuzu's face was heartbreaking. Harumin reached out and put a hand on Yuzu's arm to show support. As Yuzu looked up at her, Harumin gave her a big smile as she internally breathed a sigh of relief.

_Halfway there…now just need to knock some sense into a certain hard-headed student council president._

_Speak of the devil…_

Harumin caught sight of the dark haired girl just as she entered the hallway from one of the classrooms. She watched Mei say goodbye to her fellow student council members before they all separated and she started walking their way.

Suddenly, Harumin had an idea. She grinned evilly as the plan hastily formed in her mind.

Quickly, she grabbed both of Yuzu's shoulders and leaned in close to Yuzu's ear as she whispered, "Yuzu, I think I can help you with your little problem, but you need to not freak out for the next 30 seconds, got it?"

Confusion filled Yuzu's face as she stared in response. "Wha…what are you talking about, Harumin? What are you going to do?"

Harumin smiled genuinely at the girl, glancing quickly to her left to see that Mei was very close to reaching them. "Just trust me, ok?"

A slight nod was the only answer Yuzu was able to give before Harumin pushed her back against the lockers and crashed her lips against Yuzu's in a hasty kiss. She heard Yuzu make a tiny "eep!" in surprise at the sudden contact, but thankfully the girl didn't make more of a fuss than that.

_Wow, _Harumin thought as her lips moved expertly against Yuzu's, _Yuzu smells really good. And her lips are so…_

She wasn't able to finish that thought, as she was suddenly yanked backwards by her collar.

_SLAP_

Harumin stumbled backwards several steps and raised a hand to her now stinging face, blinking several times as her mind struggled to process what had just happened. She heard Yuzu gasp and shout "Mei!" as she looked up and into a set of livid eyes.

Soon, Yuzu was at Harumin's side, grabbing ahold of her arm and frantically asking, "Harumin! Are you alright? Are you ok?"

Harumin assured Yuzu that she was fine before turning back to Mei, yelling, "But what the hell is _your_ problem?!"

Mei narrowed her eyes as a scowl formed on her face. She replied in a dangerously slow and deliberate voice, "That…behavior...is completely unacceptable at school."

"I think that _hitting_ students is even more unacceptable, don't you?" Harumin shot back.

"Harumin, I'm sure that Mei knows she was out of line and will apologize, won't you, Mei?" Yuzu stated diplomatically from beside her, shooting pleading eyes towards her half-sister.

Hearing this, Mei's scowl disappeared as she looked closely at Yuzu, as if contemplating how she wanted to proceed. After a few seconds, she turned back to Harumin, scowl immediately reappearing on her slender face.

"Go home, loitering around after school hours is _also _against school rules," Mei said, venom seeping out of her voice as she continued her stare down with Harumin.

"Mei!" Yuzu exclaimed in shock at her response, but Harumin quickly grabbed Yuzu's hand to gain the girl's attention as she muttered, "It's alright, Yuzu, I should get going anyway."

Harumin couldn't help a small smile at the girl's confused expression; the blonde had been totally prepared to force Mei to apologize to her. It was one of Yuzu's best qualities: her determination to stand up for what she felt was right. Harumin was grateful to the girl, but that was not part of her plan today.

Harumin pulled Yuzu into a big hug and whispered, "good luck," in her ear. As she pulled away, she saw that Mei looked like she had a lemon stuck in her mouth. Grinning, Harumin leaned back in and kissed Yuzu tenderly on the forehead, backing away quickly as she heard what sounded like a hiss coming from Mei's direction. Flashing a bright smile at the enraged girl, Harumin carefully backed away, throwing a quick wink at Yuzu before she turned to walk down the hall.

Once she was out of their sight, Harumin raised a hand to gingerly touch her throbbing cheek, wincing slightly at the contact.

_Jeez, she really put a lot into that slap._ Harumin grinned at the thought. That had definitely been a "get away from my girlfriend" type of slap and there was no way Mei could deny that. Hopefully, the two girls would be able to have a nice, long conversation about their feelings, now that Mei had made hers abundantly clear.

She pulled out her phone as she neared the school exit, checking her messages.

"Hey!" she heard someone shout from behind her. "No cell phones on school property! I'll have to report you to the Student Council President!" She turned around to see an angry Himeko stalking down the hallway towards her, arms swinging forcefully at her sides.

Harumin laughed before replying, "Please do report me!" as she waved and continued walking, leaving a stunned Himeko in her wake.

She had just been _slapped_ by the Student Council President. There was no way she getting in trouble anytime soon.


	2. Reaction

**Chapter 2 is from Mei's point of view. Hopefully, I was able to capture her feelings pretty well. I love Mei's character. Always so moody!**

**Again, still don't own Citrus.**

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"Great work today," Mei said as she stepped out of the classroom with several of her fellow student council members. "We'll finish up with the rest of the plans next week."

She nodded to them as they each said goodbye before parting ways. She gave a small exhale in satisfaction at their most recent meeting. It had been much more productive than usual, so she was feeling quite pleased.

Looking around the hallway, she found Yuzu and her friend Harumin having what appeared to be a serious conversation a short way away. She couldn't help but notice that Yuzu seemed to be in particularly poor spirits this afternoon. It was very strange not seeing the bubbly blonde laughing and joking when she was with her best friend.

Mei sighed inwardly. She couldn't help but feel partially responsible for the girl's mood. It had been her, after all, who had told Yuzu that she wanted nothing to do with her. That they couldn't continue their…whatever it was that they had. That she had no feelings for her whatsoever…

Thinking about that last statement, Mei felt a particularly sharp pain in her chest. If only that were actually true, then she wouldn't feel guilty about the girl's apparent depression right now. But seeing as how she _did_ feel guilty, she decided that maybe offering to walk home with the girl this afternoon would help cheer Yuzu up.

It would also allow her to make sure Yuzu went straight home. The last thing she wanted was for Yuzu to spend another minute with that _Matsuri_. She clenched her teeth as she thought about the young girl she had seen kissing _her_….step sister.

Giving up her inner thoughts, Mei finally turned and began walking down the hallway towards Yuzu and Harumin. Her brow furrowed as she saw Harumin lean close to Yuzu. They sure seemed to be speaking about something important. She felt her pace quicken marginally as she wondered what it could be.

Mei frowned as she saw Harumin glance quickly in her direction. What was she –

The next second, Mei felt unbridled rage explode within her as she saw Harumin shove Yuzu roughly against the lockers before Harumin's lips crash into the blonde's. She heard a growl escape her throat as she reached the two girls in a matter of seconds. Before Mei even understood what she was doing, she saw her left hand reach out and grab on to Harumin's collar, yanking the girl forcefully away from Yuzu. As the girl yelped in surprise, Mei's right hand swung across and landed squarely on the girl's cheek, hard.

Harumin stumbled backwards slightly, allowing Mei planted herself firmly in between the girl and Yuzu. First Matsuri, now Harumin. Mei was getting really tired of this sh-

"Mei!"

Mei blinked as she heard Yuzu shout her name before the blonde shoved by her and knelt by Harumin's side.

"Harumin! Are you alright? Are you ok?" Mei felt her anger surge again as she watched Yuzu fret over her friend.

"I'm ok, I'm ok," Harumin assured Yuzu before she turned back to Mei. "But what the hell is _your_ problem?"

Mei scowled at the girl. Her problem was all these girls kissing Yuzu when she couldn't…but she could never admit that. "That…behavior...is completely unacceptable at school," she said slowly, making sure to clearly emphasize every word.

"I think that _hitting_ students is even more unacceptable, don't you?" the girl spat back at her, causing Mei to pause momentarily as the realization sunk in that she had actually hit a student. She felt a small amount of panic enter her system as she thought about all of the trouble she could get in for her action.

However, that thought instantly disappeared when she heard Yuzu say, "Harumin, I'm sure that Mei knows she was out of line and will apologize, won't you, Mei?"

Looking at the pleading eyes Yuzu was leveling at her, Mei thought about apologizing, if only to make Yuzu happy. But…she wasn't actually sorry for doing it, because hopefully now Harumin would know that Yuzu was off limits. And it had felt so much more gratifying to hit the girl than that kiss with Matsuki had been. Mei had felt like she needed to take ten showers in a row after that.

Then again, Mei wasn't really the type to apologize when she wasn't actually sorry for what she had done.

"Go home, loitering around after school hours is _also _against school rules," Mei decided on saying as she glowered again at the girl.

"Mei!" Yuzu yelled as she heard what Mei had said, but Harumin grabbed ahold of Yuzu's hand before Mei's half-sister could continue.

"It's alright, Yuzu, I should get going anyway," Harumin said as she smiled at her friend before pulling Yuzu into a hug. Mei felt a low rumble in her chest as another wave of jealousy and anger washed over her. When Harumin leaned in and kissed Yuzu softly on the forehead, Mei heard the rumble escape from her mouth as a low hiss.

Harumin flashed a big smile at her, which only made Mei feel like slapping her another time, before she turned away and began walking down the hall.

Now that the threat was leaving, Mei could feel herself composure level rising back to its normal level. Satisfied that Harumin was now out of the way, at least for the time being, Mei turned back to Yuzu.

She was careful not to show any surprise when she found that Yuzu was standing with her hands on her hips, staring at Mei with a frown. She almost looked…angry…at her.

Deciding to brush over what had just happened, Mei turned towards the exit as well, casting a glance back towards the girl.

"Well, are you coming or not?" she said authoritatively as she started walking away, knowing that Yuzu would follow her.

"No, I'm not," came the answer from behind her. Mei raised her eyebrows, stopping in her tracks. She slowly turned around to face the blonde, who was still standing planted in the hallway with a frown on her face. Mei couldn't help thinking that Yuzu's angry expression was pretty adorable, but she quickly forced the thought from her mind.

"No?" she asked curiously as she slowly walked back to Yuzu, stopping directly in front of the girl. "Why not?"

She watched as Yuzu struggled to keep the frown on her face now that Mei was standing in her personal space. Mei knew quite well the effect she could have on Yuzu when they were near each other. She was hoping that the proximity would fluster her enough this time so that they wouldn't have to discuss what had just happened.

"Tell me why you just did that, Mei. I'm not going anywhere until you explain yourself," Yuzu finally said, forcefully.

Mei sighed. Apparently she wasn't getting out of this one so easily.

"Yuzu, I…" Mei began but faltered, not exactly knowing what she wanted to say. What could she even say, after the other day?

"I don't want anyone else to have you…" she finished, mumbling the words so softly that she hoped Yuzu might not even hear her.

"Why would you care when you have no feelings for me?" Yuzu asked incredulously.

"I…lied…before," Mei began slowly, feeling her cheeks start to warm slightly. "About my feelings…for you."

The blonde stared at her in confusion as the words started to sink in. As a blush formed on Yuzu's cheeks, Mei watched the girl revert back to her normal, sputtering ways when near Mei. She felt a small smile form in satisfaction at the sight. At least now she had the upper hand once again.

"Wh-what do you mean, you l-lied?" Yuzu finally managed to spit out.

"I…did not tell the truth. About my feelings," Mei said, trying to carefully choose her words so as not to give away more information than was necessary.

"But why?" Yuzu asked loudly, although it came out almost as a whine.

"Because, Yuzu," Mei began, "that path that you want to go down is not an easy one, not in the least. Besides our parents, there's my grandfather, our classmates, general societal norms…I couldn't let you go through that. I didn't think that I could go through that…"

As she finished, her step-sister was beginning to beam at her as she realized that Mei was trying to say.

"You _didn't_ think that you could handle it, past tense," Yuzu astutely observed, her most radiant smile now gracing her face. "Now you do?"

"I…think…that I can, yes," Mei admitted slowly. "But I still don't want to put you through any of this."

Yuzu brushed off Mei's last comment with a single wave of her hand as she continued to grin. Mei couldn't help but smile in return. It felt so good to finally admit. And seeing Yuzu happy made her feel…complete…somehow.

"So…you like me," Yuzu stated matter-of-factly, bouncing from foot to foot in excitement now.

Mei sighed in exasperation as Yuzu's anticipation bubbled over. "…I'll admit that I have feelings for you that are different than those for anyone else…" she said as diplomatically as possible.

She wasn't particularly fond of describing her complicated feelings for Yuzu as simply "like." The word seemed far too ordinary to explain how she felt towards the girl. But the thought of even putting that one word out there for Yuzu to hear made her feel inexplicably nervous, because she knew that once Yuzu heard it, there would be no turning back.

"You like me," Yuzu insisted, still grinning from ear to ear.

Apparently, Yuzu wasn't going to give up on this one. Mei closed her eyes for an instant as she took a deep breath, stilling her nerves before taking the plunge.

"Yes…Yuzu, I like you."


	3. Results

**The end of my little story...this chapter is Yuzu! This story took me awhile because I wanted to post all three chapters at one time, that way it could be read in a single sitting!**

**I hope everyone has enjoyed. Please read and review if you have time!**

**Still don't own Citrus.**

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Yuzu stood at her locker, putting her books away while pulling out her bag to take home. She was running on autopilot at this point. The entire day had been a drag. She hadn't been able to think of anything but Mei. It didn't help that she saw her beautiful step-sister in her classes, in the hallway, at lunch…no matter where she went, she was reminded of how she felt for the girl.

And how Mei had no feelings for her at all. Mei probably didn't even like her as a human being.

"What's up, Yuzu?"

Yuzu was jolted out of her thoughts by the question. She turned to see Harumin peering closely at her.

"Oh…it's nothing really…" she replied. She really didn't want to bring Harumin down with all of her drama. "It's just been one of those days, you know?"

"Yuzu…" Harumin began, "you know that you're my best friend, so that means I know when you're lying. So tell me what is actually bothering you, please."

Yuzu looked down at the ground, wondering how much she should actually tell Harumin. She _wanted _to tell her everything. She just didn't know how her friend would react if Yuzu told her that she was harboring a massive, unrequited crush on her step-sister, who also happened to be the president of their student counsel and hated both of their guts. On top of that, they had actually already kissed several times.

She decided that it might be best to be as vague as possible in this situation.

"Well…you see…there's someone that I like…a lot. But I just can't figure out how they really feel about me…" Yuzu looked down at the ground after her admission, afraid that she might begin crying from the sympathetic look Harumin was giving her.

"Like" was the mellow way to describe her feelings. Hopelessly, pathetically, miserably, desperately in love with the girl might be a little more accurate. But there was no need to go into details right now.

Feeling Harumin's hand on her arm, Yuzu looked up at her friend's smiling face. She let out a shaky exhale as she tried to smile in return. She was really lucky to have a friend like Harumin, who was always by her side with a smile and a good joke to lighten her spirits.

Yuzu quickly looked down again as she felt tears once again threaten to spill, this time out of gratitude towards her friend. If not for Harumin, Yuzu would have no kindred spirit at school to spend her time with. No one to break the rules with. No one to go shopping with. No one to tease the student council members with. School would definitely be much less enjoyable without Harumin there.

Suddenly, Yuzu felt Harumin grab her shoulders before she heard a hurried whisper in her ear.

"Yuzu, I think I can help you with your little problem, but you need to not freak out for the next 30 seconds, got it?"

Confusion filled Yuzu as she looked at her determined friend. "Wha…what are you talking about, Harumin? What are you going to do?"

Yuzu racked her brain as she desperately tried to think of what Harumin could be thinking of. She was suddenly worried that Harumin was going to try to scare her with a spider or something. How was she not supposed to freak out if that was the plan? But when Harumin smiled reassuringly at her and said, "Just trust me, ok?" Yuzu decided that she did trust her friend enough to agree to her request, at least, this one time.

As soon as she nodded her head, Harumin shoved her back into the wall of lockers behind her. Yuzu made a quiet "eep!" as she felt Harumin's lips collide with her own. Her mind exploded with alarm bells as she frantically tried to not 'freak out' at what was happening.

But WHAT WAS HAPPENING? Harumin was kissing her. Harumin was _kissing_ her! Why was Harumin kissing her? And she was _seriously_...

Harumin's lips suddenly disappeared, halting Yuzu's thoughts. Her eyes fluttered open just in time to see Mei standing in front of her, landing an open hand squarely across her friend's face with an audible _SLAP_.

She gasped as Harumin fell backwards several feet, holding a hand up to her cheek. Yuzu shouted "Mei!" in shock as she rushed over to see if Harumin was alright. Taking ahold of one of the girl's arms, she frantically examined the girl's face, saying, "Harumin! Are you alright? Are you ok?"

She couldn't fully comprehend what had happened, or why, but Harumin's cheek looked like it was already swelling.

"I'm ok, I'm ok," Harumin reassured her, before turning towards Mei and shouting, "But what the hell is _your_ problem?!"

Looking at Mei, Yuzu found herself wondering the same thing. Why had Mei done that? It was unlike the ultra-composed student council president to lash out like that. Not to mention entirely uncalled for.

"That…behavior…is completely unacceptable at school," Mei spit out through gritted teeth, a scowl firmly etched into her thin features.

Yuzu flinched at the words. Is that what Mei had thought about the kiss Yuzu had given her in her grandfather's office? That it was unacceptable school behavior, and that's all?

"I think that _hitting_ students is even more unacceptable, don't you?" Harumin shot back.

Yuzu thought that maybe she should step in before a full argument could break out between the two girls. The last thing Yuzu wanted was for Harumin to file a complaint and get Mei expelled from the school, but Harumin did deserve an apology.

"Harumin, I'm sure that Mei knows she was out of line and will apologize, won't you, Mei?" She shot Mei her best pleading look, hoping that for once in her life, Mei would acquiesce and let the supposed transgression slide.

Mei studied her, who suddenly felt very self-conscious under her step-sister's steely gaze. It was unnerving her, but she refused to back down from her request. Mei should apologize for what she did. After what seemed like an eternity under this scrutiny, Mei finally turned back towards Harumin and said flatly, "Go home, loitering around after school hours is _also_ against school rules."

"Mei!" she shouted immediately. Agitation started to build in her system at her step-sister's stubbornness. She had done something wrong and _physically_ hurt someone. She should apologize for it! Not continue to lash out at the victim.

Harumin grabbed ahold of her hand suddenly, gaining Yuzu's attention. The injured girl gave her a big smile.

"It's alright, Yuzu, I should get going anyway."

Yuzu felt her jaw drop at Harumin's response. It just didn't feel right for Harumin to leave without an apology from Mei. She opened her mouth to say something else, but Harumin pulled her into a hug before she could speak.

"Good luck," she heard whispered in her ear before Harumin pulled back slightly, grinning wildly. The next second, she felt Harumin's lips press quickly to her forehead, before her friend skipped off with a quick wink.

Yuzu stared at Harumin as she left her and Mei standing alone in the hallway, before she put her hands on her hips and turned back to Mei. Her step-sister was watching Harumin leave with a smug look on her face.

That look only made Yuzu more upset at Mei's behavior. It was unacceptable for Mei to treat Harumin that way, much less treat _anyone_ that way. She would not let Mei get away with it without explaining herself.

When Mei finally turned towards Yuzu, her expression was blank. But before Yuzu could get out a single word, Mei turned away from her and started walking away.

"Well, are you coming or not?" Mei tossed back over her shoulder as she continued walking.

Yuzu's frown deepened at the sight. Mei thought that she could just ignore what just occurred and obediently follow her home?

"No," she said flatly. "I'm not." She stood her place in the hallway, determined not to let Mei push her around this time.

Hearing Yuzu's words, Mei stopped walking and turned around to face her. Maybe it was just her, but Mei actually looked slightly confused by her refusal.

"No?" she asked as she began walking back to Yuzu. "Why not?"

As Mei stopped directly in front of her, Yuzu could feel her resolve begin to melt away. The proximity to the raven haired girl was quickly eroding her anger. All she could think about was how beautiful Mei was from this distance, with her long eyelashes, silky hair…

She swallowed as she tried to refocus.

"Tell me why you just did that, Mei," she was finally able to get out. "I'm not going anywhere until you explain yourself."

Thankfully, it sounded much more forceful than she actually felt. In actuality, she was seconds away from dropping the whole thing and going home with Mei peacefully.

Mei sighed before she began speaking, carefully looking anywhere but at Yuzu.

"Yuzu, I…I don't want anyone else to have you…"

Yuzu could barely make out what Mei said because of how softly her step sister was speaking, but she was pretty sure she had just heard that correctly. Confusion flooded through her as she tried to comprehend.

"Why would you care when you have no feelings for me?" she asked incredulously. Mei had no feelings for her, but she didn't want anyone else to like her, either? That seemed like an incredibly unfair and _greedy_ thing for Mei to say.

"I…lied…before," Mei said slowly, "About my feelings…for you."

Yuzu stared at Mei blankly as the words sunk in. She…lied. If she lied when she said that she had _no_ feelings for Yuzu then…

She looked away from Mei as she suddenly felt a blush growing on her cheeks. Mei was saying that she _did_ have feelings for her. Right?

"Wh-what do you mean, you l-lied?" she was finally able to say as Mei gave her a small smile. That little smile was causing Yuzu to become even more flustered, as Mei hardly ever smiled like that.

Mei thought for a few seconds before carefully responding, "I…did not tell the truth. About my feelings."

"But why?" she burst out in response. Why would Mei lie about her true feelings, when she knew how Yuzu felt about her?

"Because, Yuzu, that path that you want to go down is not an easy one, not in the least. Besides our parents, there's my grandfather, our classmates, general societal norms…I couldn't let you go through that," Mei paused briefly before slowly concluding, "I didn't think that I could go through that…"

Her ears perked up immediately when she heard the last sentence.

"You _didn't_ think that you could handle it, past tense," she pointed out, feeling happiness begin to spill out of her. "Now you do?"

"I…think…that I can, yes," Mei said slowly. "But I still don't want to put you through any of this."

Yuzu waved off Mei's worries, far too focused on the fact that Mei was almost admitting to the fact that she liked Yuzu. Almost, but she wanted to hear it from the raven haired girl directly, just to be sure.

"So…you like me," she stated. She couldn't keep her excitement from showing as she bounced softly from foot to foot, impatiently waiting to hear Mei's response. Could it be that all this time, she was wrong in thinking that Mei only tolerated her presence?

Mei sighed again before answering.

"I'll admit that I have feelings for you that are different than those for anyone else…"

"You like me," Yuzu pressed. She really wanted to hear Mei say the words, not some diplomatic skipping around the issue. She watched as Mei waged a short internal battle with herself before she opened her mouth to speak.

"Yes…Yuzu, I like you."

She stopped bouncing immediately and stared at Mei. She could hear nothing but the sound of her heart pounding in her ears as she tried to process what had just happened. Had Mei really just admitted it? Yuzu could swear that she had heard the words and it looked like Mei had said them, but she found it incredibly difficult to believe. Maybe Yuzu had just heard what she wanted to hear.

Realizing that Mei had begun speaking again, Yuzu tried to focus on what the girl was saying over the pounding in her ears.

" – that the feelings would fade away, but it hasn't happened."

"You do?" Yuzu interrupted, still caught up on Mei admitting that she liked her.

Sighing, Mei looked at her closely for a few more seconds before leaning towards her. Yuzu let her eyes slide shut as Mei's lips gently met hers.

The feeling of Mei's lips against hers was pure bliss. Yuzu kissed back passionately, deepening the kiss. She felt Mei's hand slide up her side before softly caressing her cheek, pushing a few strands of her hair behind her ear. Mei pushed Yuzu's back against the wall once more as they quickly became lost in each other.

The sound of a door closing around the corner jolted both of them out of the moment as Mei quickly separately herself from Yuzu. Yuzu felt a deep blush on her cheeks immediately and was pleasantly surprised to see that Mei was blushing, as well.

She gave a slight cough as she looked away from Yuzu. "Will you come home now?"

Yuzu nodded, grabbing Mei's hand to pull her towards the exit. She was delighted when Mei didn't try to pull her hand away.

"So…what would you like to do for dinner tonight?" Mei asked nonchalantly as they walked along.

"Oh shoot!" Yuzu slapped her free palm to her forehead as she suddenly remembered. "I totally forgot that I told Matsuri I would go to the mall with her after school today!"

The mention of Matsuri caused Mei's hand to quickly tighten around her own.

"Ow, Mei!" Yuzu yelped, trying to pull her hand away from Mei's vice grip before it cut off circulation to her fingers.

Mei gave Yuzu a sheepish look as she loosened her grip slightly, but didn't let go of Yuzu's hand. She then said softly, "You know that it's against the rules to go out after school."

Yuzu studied Mei as they continued walking. Mei seemed to be becoming more dejected with each passing second that Yuzu didn't respond to her.

"You're right. I'll cancel with Matsuri," Yuzu said cheerfully, "I won't break the rules today. I wouldn't want to make more work for you when you've been so kind to me today!"

Yuzu smiled when Mei seemed to cheer up slightly from her response.

"I'll text her…" she began before quickly backtracking, "I mean, when we get home! Because I definitely do not have my phone here at school with me. That would be against school rules," she finished lamely, embarrassed at having been caught breaking yet another rule.

"I know that you have your phone, Yuzu," Mei said sternly before turning away with a faint blush on her cheeks. "…I'd like it if you would text her now."

Was Mei really that jealous of Matsuri? Yuzu couldn't help the smile that formed at the thought of the beautiful girl being jealous. Especially of Matsuri. The young girl didn't hold a candle to the student council president, at least not in Yuzu's eyes.

She quickly dug her phone out of her bag and shot off a short text to her young friend. When it was done, she quickly snapped her phone shut and tossed it back into her bag so that they could continue walking.

"All done!" she exclaimed happily, before she pouted slightly. "Aw, darn I was really looking forward to buying this sweater I've had my eye on for a while…"

Out of the corner of her eye, Yuzu noticed Mei glance quickly down at her hand. She smiled when she realized that Mei wanted to hold her hand again, but was too reserved to initiate the gesture. Yuzu reached out and grabbed ahold of Mei's hand once more, feeling warmth blossom in her chest at the contact.

After walking along in a comfortable silence for several minutes, Mei finally spoke up.

"If you would really like to go to the mall, I could go with you."

"Really?" Yuzu exclaimed. She was shocked at the offer. "You'll go with me?"

Mei gave only a slight nod of her head. "Yes, I will."

Yuzu grinned at the girl before she continued.

"But not on a school night; that's against the rules."

Yuzu couldn't help but to burst out laughing. Apparently there was a limit to how many rules Mei could break in one day.

"That's fine, Mei, as long as I'm with you!"

She couldn't help being excited about the thought of going to the mall alone with Mei. It would almost be like a…date. Her heart started pounding heavily once more at that thought.

As they neared their home, Mei had one more question for Yuzu.

"Why did Harumin…kiss…you, Yuzu?" She looked away from Yuzu as they stood outside the front door, seeming almost afraid to hear the answer.

Yuzu laughed, suddenly remembering the kiss that seemed to have happened so long ago now. "She said that she was helping me with my crush, and I think that it worked!" She owed Harumin a huge thank you when she saw her next. Plus, she still needed to get Mei to apologize for hitting her.

Mei looked at her seriously. "Who do you have a crush on?" she asked, somewhat apprehensively.

"Well...you, Mei," Yuzu admitted, causing Mei to blush slightly. As they entered their home, she tugged on Mei's hand slightly so that the girl would turn back towards her. Looking straight into her eyes, Yuzu said the words she couldn't stop thinking about all day. And for once, she wasn't expecting to be rejected.

"I like you, Mei," she said with a smile, feeling a tremendous weight lift off of her chest as the raven hair girl regarded her tenderly.

"I like you too."


End file.
